MotoGP | Taramasso: “Stiffer fronts at Mugello with the unknown bad weather”

There’s not even time to put the Catalan Grand Prix aside, it’s already time to move on, because this weekend the MotoGP caravan is stopping at Mugello for the Italian Grand Prix. If in Barcelona the lack of grip always makes everything a big unknown, the Tuscan ups and downs usually offer more guarantees on the tire front, given that it is often used by the teams also for testing.

However, this weekend the weather could complicate everything a little, because the forecasts are anything but reassuring, as the manager of the French company, Piero Taramasso, explained to us. And that could also complicate longer-term plans, given that Monday is a particularly important day of collective testing for Michelin with a view to 2025.

“Mugello is a very technical track, but in general it is easier to tackle than Barcelona. It has an up-and-down pattern, then there is an impressive straight, on which very high top speeds can be reached. But then it is a complete circuit, both with slow curves and with fast curves. The weather conditions should make everything a bit more complicated, because we are talking about thunderstorms and sunny spells for practically the whole weekend. Furthermore, there is the risk that it could be quite low in the morning the temperature,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.

What kind of choices did you make for this Italian Grand Prix?
“At the rear we confirmed compounds with the same level of rigidity as last year. These are two asymmetric solutions, with the harder right shoulder. In 2023 they all used the soft in the Sprint and eight then chose it also for the long race and it performed well, very similar to the average. However, on Sunday the majority of the riders had used the average, so we know that these are specifications that are well targeted for Mugello”.

Are there any new features at the front?
“We have given a step of rigidity to the entire allocation: the hard one for 2023, which had been used for both the Sprint and the long race, has become the medium one. This allows us to introduce the Hard+, which is the solution that we validated it in the winter tests and took it to Jerez and Barcelona, ​​but for the moment it has not yet been used because we have never found the ideal conditions. Looking at the weather forecast, it is difficult to hypothesize that it could be used at Mugello and it is a shame. because with this up and down trend it could have been a very interesting test bed.”

Taking the rain almost for granted, given the forecast, will you have the standard allocation for rain tires?
“Yes, we will bring the standard solutions. This year we haven’t used them much, but at Mugello we already have a lot of data, also because it is a track that is also used a lot for private tests by the teams.”

Speaking of tests, the teams will stop in Tuscany on Monday for the official ones. Should we expect any news from Michelin?
“If conditions allow us, we will propose the new front construction. This is the latest evolution that we have already tested internally and with some of the manufacturers’ test drivers, but now we would like an opinion from the owner drivers, because we have to decide whether to introduce it in 2025 or possibly delay it to 2026. We need answers because then there are only a few official tests left before the end of the year, the one in Misano and the one in Valencia will be an important test for us.”

Taking a step back, you’ve already said that Barcelona is a demanding track for the tyres, but the feeling is that they performed well in the Catalan Grand Prix won by Pecco Bagnaia…
“As expected, it was a difficult weekend, with a lot of tension, both for the MotoGP and for the MotoE, due to the asphalt conditions. We know that there is always little grip there and therefore the tires behave differently compared to other tracks, so it’s difficult to anticipate what the performance and degradation will be like. In the end, however, it went well, it was a good weekend. I think the tires performed well, but I have to admit that it was above all the drivers the teams did an excellent job, credit must be given to them, because the riders had to be very precise with the accelerator to manage the spinning, because with the little grip that the asphalt offers it is almost like driving in the wet all weekend. , and doing it for more than 20 laps couldn’t have been easy. But the teams also worked well with the settings and with the management of the traction control.”

The key to Bagnaia’s victory was probably his ability to manage the tire better than everyone else…
“Let’s say that we knew that whoever was able to manage the tires the most would win, without making too risky strategies to get in front straight away. In Barcelona it is always essential to study the situation in the early stages of the race and find a pace that is the right compromise Pecco did it and deservedly won. I must say that all those who finished in the top positions were very good, including Martin and Marquez, who made two exceptional comebacks in both the Sprint and the long race. already done in France too.”

Among other things, in the long race, Marquez managed to climb from 14th place on the grid to third despite being one of the few who were using the soft tire on the rear…
“Yes, only he, his brother Alex, Acosta and Miller had ridden it. Starting 14th, he made this choice because he thought that with the soft he would have a better chance of moving up the group straight away. His strategy worked, but then we saw that at the distance the soft showed a more significant drop in pace compared to the medium, which for me was the ideal solution”.

Until his crash, Acosta was fighting for the victory: so do you think we would have seen a drop in pace from him too?
“Yes, I can’t say exactly by how much, but what is certain is that the soft had a more significant drop compared to the average, even if Pedro set the new record for the fastest lap in the race. But that choice if the average was correct, this is confirmed by the fact that Bagnaia lowered the race distance record by about 10 seconds compared to the previous one, which was that of 2022 (in 2023 there was the red flag, ed.). The track temperature was almost 50 degrees, so it had further reduced the grip. When we look at the whole thing, therefore, we can say that it was a really positive weekend.”

In the second part of the race there were those who also suffered a decline in the front tire, is this correct?
“Yes, Barcelona is a circuit that is very severe on both the front and rear. For the more aggressive riders, the front has also started to drop a little on the right side. The good thing is that we are talking about a tire that offers good feedback, so the riders are able to manage the situation quite well. Furthermore, despite everything, they continued to set very respectable times until the end, also because it wasn’t a huge drop.”